Michael Zigismund

Introduction: I offer private lessons directly from your computer. Are you around a computer screen? Do you own an Internet? Then you're just a click away from me! Please check out my YouTube videos (URL below). I have 14 years of experience bringing about and learning the guitar. My mastery includes almost any subgenre of rock n’ roll, jazz, blues, classical, heavy metal, and show tunes/musical music. I also have 3 years of experience teaching players ages 11 to 47 years old, from beginners to seasoned guitarists of 30 years. This is in addition to my background in musical counterpoint, theory, composition, history, and production; again, in all styles. I place supreme importance on being able to approach music as a musician, rather than as an instrumentalist. This means that the guitar (and any other instrument) is merely a means to an end, that, when arrived at skillfully, grabs and affects the audience every single time. Any guitarist can, after some time, bang some notes out in the correct rhythm and arrangement. But only a musician will use those notes to emotionally touch the greatest amount of people in the audience. Notes are not easy to learn, to be sure. That's where a good teacher comes in handy. But the best teachers keep your focus on what to do with the notes after you know how to play them well. After all, that's when the real work begins: the dynamics, the beginnings and the endings of notes and phrases, the facial expressions, the nod of the head, the words that are said before and after a song, the way that you sit and stand; these are the lifeblood of music. These are also the secrets that separate the greatest performers from "those friends of yours." And these are the things that give me, and the best musicians I know, the most fun when making music. Exploring what is beyond the notes is what sustains our discipline and allows us to keep improving. Check out my videos to see what I mean. Well? Go ahead. I'm exactly on the further side of your computer screen.